Samuel Parker

Samuel Parker (1779–1866) was an American missionary in the Pacific Northwest, He was the first Presbyterian minister in the region. He scouted locations for potential missions with Marcus Whitman among the Liksiyu and Niimíipu nations in 1835.

Early life Samuel Parker was born on April 23, 1779, in Ashfield, Massachusetts, to Thankful Merchant Parker and Elisha Parker. He was educated on the East Coast where he graduated in 1806 from Williams College, and in 1810 from Andover Theological Seminary. Parker then sought out locations for the establishment of missions in the region. He traveled through the Willamette Valley and Lower Columbia Valley to select sites that were later used by the missionaries of the American Board for Foreign Missions, including what became the Waiilatpu Mission. He published a book in 1838 describing his journey to Oregon, Journal of an Exploring Tour Beyond the Rocky Mountains. Parker died on March 21, 1866, and is buried in Ithaca, New York.